Interview with James L. Choron
Author of Footprints in the Snow: Tales of Haunted Russia
Jul 24, 2007
LH: In the first part of the interview we talked a bit about your time in Russia in general. I would like to know about nvestigating the paranormal in Russia. Do you find any major differences between how people there view such beliefs and how people living in the States view the them?
JC: This was perhaps the most difficult thing for me to get used to as a "foreigner" living in Russia. The Russian people have always been more accepting of paranormal phenomenon than those in the west. It is a part of the culture that is based on an emphasis on education and scientific study. When a Russian, any Russian, sees or experiences something that they do not understand their first impulse is to investigate it and determine what, exactly, it is that they witnessed. This is encouraged by both the educational system and the scientific and medical community as a whole. Some of the best leads that I get for my articles come from police, military and medical sources. There is also a much more open attitude in this country as to openly discussing paranormal events and occurrences. This extends not only to private individuals but to government and religious bodies as well. Some of the oldest paranormal investigative organizations in the world are in Russia.
LH: When conducting your investigations for the book, did you experience any type of activity which you hadn't experienced before? If so, did it change your mindset on how you view the paranormal?
Oh, several times. You see, in the west you don't have the wide range of places to investigate that you do here simply because people won't talk about things of this nature. Likewise they won't talk about incidents that they have witnessed. Here they do and because of that you run into quite a few things that are uncommon in the west and that most westerners, including myself, have never seen before. I've had two or three encounters that have added to my personal belief in the existence of spirit entity activity but nothing that has actually changed my mindset. I am still a skeptic by profession and I go into any investigation with an open mind.
LH: What was your biggest goal in writing this book, and do you think you have accomplished it so far?
JC: That's a very easy question to answer. I want people to know the truth. I am a journalist and have been a journalist for over 35 years. People have a right to know the truth about what is going on in the
world around them whether it is "normal" news or "paranormal' occurrences. The idea of hiding information from the general public and covering up the truth is repugnant to me. All of the articles in "Footprints in the Snow" are fully documented and fully researched from the standpoint of any reporter covering any news story.
LH: Does Russia have an abundance of paranormal groups or paranormal shows like we have in the United States?
JC: There is far more activity in Paranormal investigation all around in Russia than in the United States. I'd say that since the "fad" has hit over there there are probably about the same number of groups. But before the sudden surge in interest that is now taking place in the west Russia far and away had more investigative groups and investigators than any western nation. Like I said, people in this country are far more open to the Paranormal than they are in the west.
LH: What do you feel is the biggest problem in the paranormal community as a whole that could hinder the research efforts put forth by so many people?
JC: The biggest problem faced in the Paranormal community, at least in the west, is a near complete lack of professionalism. There is too much of a "sensationalism" attached to investigation of paranormal events. The investigation of the paranormal should be treated like any other branch of science. Too many people think that the word "paranormal" is the same as "occult" or "supernatural". It isn't. The Paranormal is "that which demonstrably exists but lies outside the accepted "normal" of the culture and society that surrounds it. I am a reporter and investigator who presents paranormal subjects in an objective and open way. It's just as important to find a logical and "normal" explanation for any given incident as it would be to find a "paranormal" explanation. In the end it will be objective investigation and documentation of hard evidence that demonstrates that so many things that many people now scoff at are real.
LH: Do you have any plans to write any more books about the paranormal?
JC: Oh yes. I'm already working on a sequel to "Footprints" and am in the final draft of a co-written true paranormal romance that is one of the most interesting and downright unusual cases I've ever been involved in. I hope to have the sequel to Footprints, it's not titled as yet, ready for publication by late 2008. The paranormal romance should be finished slightly sooner. Of course publication is a different question entirely. Everything depends on how well "Footprints" is received. I believe it to be a one-of-a-kind book that adds greatly to the weight of hard evidence supporting paranormal activity. I hope that my readers feel the same and will be receptive to the sequel and to the longer single-story account a love that literally spanned a lifetime and transcended death itself.
Sources:
Dr. James L. Choron, Author of "Footprints in the Snow:Tales of Haunted Russia"
